Product Face-Offs
Lexmark X5650
 | |||
| Resolution | 4800 x 1200 ppp | ||
| Speed B&W / color | 25 / 18 ppm | ||
| Ink drop size | picolitres | ||
| Number of cartridges | 2 | ||
| Number of base colors | 4 | ||
 See all specifications | |||
| Scanner / Copier / Fax | oui / oui / oui |
 Hide specifications | |
Nilofar Hadjanadjiboudine
Test date: January 28, 2009
Test date: January 28, 2009
Scanner and copier
Scanning the initial preview of the test photo takes 9 seconds and the full scan in 300 dpi takes 20. No racehorse then, but these speeds are fine and quality is good enough. The scans could be sharper but the colours are nice to the eye.
The copier isn’t that fast either: 30 seconds for a black and white and more than a minute for colour.
The X5650 is a pro Lexmark printer. At around 90 euros, it combines copier, scanner and fax. It is almost identical to the all-in-one X6675: black and gery, with a simple interface and a black and white screen. It also uses the same cartridges: 36 / 37 or 36XL / 37XL. So why's it so much cheaper? No wi-fi, that’s all!
Office printing: rapid and as it should be
In draft mode, Lexmark claims 25 ppm. With our test documents, we only got 17.3 ppm. In standard mode, we got 6.2 ppm (black and white) and 4 ppm (colour). This isn’t really very good for colour as the average is 6/7 ppm.
So, speed’s not that great but what about quality? Draft mode gives very faint blacks and ink drops are visible. Standard mode is obviously better but the drops remain visible. Graphs are well presented with tinted areas nice and even, text well rendered on background colours but still with visible drops.
.jpg)
Photo printing: slow and less convincing
A 4x6” colour photo takes a little over a minute, which is a lot when compared to 40 seconds for the competition. For A4s we’re talking about 3 minutes. Always the same question: does the quality justify the wait? Firstly, there’s a lack of red in the grey mix. The images aren’t very sharp and horizontal lines are quite visible.
Cartridges
As you no doubt know, Lexmark have 2 types of cartridge: standards and XLs; the XLs are obviously more economical.
Office printing: rapid and as it should be
In draft mode, Lexmark claims 25 ppm. With our test documents, we only got 17.3 ppm. In standard mode, we got 6.2 ppm (black and white) and 4 ppm (colour). This isn’t really very good for colour as the average is 6/7 ppm.
So, speed’s not that great but what about quality? Draft mode gives very faint blacks and ink drops are visible. Standard mode is obviously better but the drops remain visible. Graphs are well presented with tinted areas nice and even, text well rendered on background colours but still with visible drops.
You can find all our tests in the face-offs
Photo printing: slow and less convincing
A 4x6” colour photo takes a little over a minute, which is a lot when compared to 40 seconds for the competition. For A4s we’re talking about 3 minutes. Always the same question: does the quality justify the wait? Firstly, there’s a lack of red in the grey mix. The images aren’t very sharp and horizontal lines are quite visible.
Cartridges
As you no doubt know, Lexmark have 2 types of cartridge: standards and XLs; the XLs are obviously more economical.
| Cartridges | ISO lifespan |
||
| 36 (black) | 175 | ||
| 37 (single unit) | 150 | ||
| 36XL (black) | 500 | ||
| 37XL (single unit) | 500 |
-
Good office printer
-
XL cartridges are economical
-
3 year guarantee
-
Fax
-
Poor photo quality
-
Visible drops on office prints
-
No wi-fi, no double sided
-
Poor speeds
This is a cheap printer with a fax. If you are able to overlook the speed and quality issues, this machine is good enough and the fact that there’s no wi-fi means that it comes relatively cheap.
Check out all of our High Tech offers: TV, Computing, Camera, Gaming, Telephony, Blu-Ray DVD on Pixmania
